MISP CurlClient TLS Peer Verification Disabled by Default Enables Man-in-the-Middle Attacks
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Adjacent network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Spoofing
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · None
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-295.
Summary
MISP contains an improper TLS certificate validation vulnerability in CurlClient. The CurlClient::$verifyPeer property was not explicitly initialized and therefore defaulted to null. When passed to cURL, this value effectively disabled TLS peer verification unless the calling code explicitly enabled it. As a result, HTTPS connections made through affected CurlClient instances could accept certificates that were not issued by a trusted certificate authority. An attacker capable of intercepting or manipulating network traffic between a MISP instance and a remote HTTPS service could impersonate the remote endpoint and perform a man-in-the-middle attack. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to observe sensitive information transmitted by MISP, including authentication material or exchanged threat intelligence, and to modify responses returned to the MISP instance. The impact depends on the functionality using CurlClient and the data exchanged with the remote service. The patch enables TLS peer verification by default while preserving explicit support for configured self-signed certificates. It also corrects the self-signed certificate handling in SyncTool so that peer verification is disabled only when no pinned CA certificate is configured.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MISP | misp | up to 2.5.45 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- misp VendorMISP Affected up to 2.5.45 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:misp-project:misp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 2.5.46 | Vulnerable | Misp-project |
- cpe:2.3:a:misp-project:misp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 2.5.46 Vulnerable ·Misp-project
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-85221
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-37pq-fmvf-2fwx
References
More MISP vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-41517 In MISP before 2.5.28, app/View/Elements/Workflows/executionPath.ctp allows XSS in the workflow execution path. CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.0
- TI-2026-65744 MISP TOTP Code Replay Allows Duplicate Authentication Within Validity Period CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3
- TI-2026-54145 Path Traversal in MISP Object Template Resolution During STIX Import and Export in misp-stix library CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.8
- TI-2020-10250 MISP MISP-maltego 1.4.4 incorrectly shares a MISP connection across users in a remote-transform use case. CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-59159 MISP Unauthenticated Mail Endpoints Allow Unbounded Storage Consumption and Request Flooding CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-58541 MISP LDAP and LinOTP Authentication Bypass via Empty or Invalid Credentials CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-85221 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-85221 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-37pq-fmvf-2fwx · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences